Cleaning apparatus, cleaning method, and imaging apparatus

ABSTRACT

A determining unit 31 determines an image region of a foreign material in an imaged image generated by an imaging unit 22 by using an imaging optical system 21. A setting unit 32 sets a pressure, injection time, an injection direction of air injected to the foreign material, an injection pattern obtained by combining them and the like based on a determination result. A foreign material removal processing unit 33 adjusts air injection by an air injection adjusting unit 331 based on the setting by the setting unit 32 and injects from an air injecting unit 332 to the imaging optical system 21 to remove the foreign material adhering to the imaging optical system 21. The air is injected according to an adhesion condition of the foreign material, so that the foreign material adhering to the imaging optical system may be optimally removed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology relates to a cleaning apparatus, a cleaning method, andan imaging apparatus and enables optimal removal of a foreign materialadhering to a lens of the imaging apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, an imaging apparatus is mounted on a vehicle such as anautomobile to use an image taken by the imaging apparatus in driving andthe like. For example, a place seen with difficulty from a driver's seatis imaged such that a driver may easily recognize an obstacle and thelike by using an in-vehicle monitor and the like. In addition, an areain front of a vehicle body is continuously imaged to avoid an accidentor verify a situation when the accident occurs based on an imaged image.Furthermore, there also is a case in which the imaging apparatus isinstalled outside and the image taken by the imaging apparatus is usedas evidence information of a crime.

When the imaging apparatus is installed outdoor or outside the vehicle,the imaging apparatus is exposed to the atmosphere and a foreignmaterial such as a droplet and dust adheres to a lens portion and thelike, thereby narrowing a field of view of the imaging apparatus orgenerating blurring and the like of the imaged image. Therefore, inPatent Document 1, it is determined whether the foreign material or thedroplet adheres to the lens based on the image taken by the imagingapparatus to drive a wiper.

CITATION LIST Patent Document

Patent Document 1: JP 2010-81273 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

In Patent Document 1, the wiper is driven according to whether theforeign material such as the droplet adheres to perform removalprocessing of the foreign material. Therefore, there might be a case inwhich the removal processing is not optimal according to an adhesioncondition of the foreign material.

Therefore, an object of this technology is to provide a cleaningapparatus, a cleaning method, and an imaging apparatus capable ofoptimally removing a foreign material adhering to an imaging opticalsystem.

Solutions to Problems

A first aspect of the present technology is

a cleaning apparatus including

a determining unit configured to determine an adhesion condition of aforeign material adhering to an imaging optical system,

a setting unit configured to set a foreign material removal operationbased on a determination result of the determining unit, and

a foreign material removal processing unit configured to perform theforeign material removal operation based on the setting by the settingunit.

In this technology, the adhesion condition of the foreign materialadhering to the imaging optical system is determined and the foreignmaterial removal operation is set based on the determination result. Forexample, an image region of the foreign material in an imaged imagegenerated by using the imaging optical system is determined and apressure, injection time, and an injection direction of gas injected tothe foreign material, an injection pattern obtained by combining themand the like are set based on the determination result. A frequency,amplitude, a waveform, and vibration time of vibration applied to asurface to which the foreign material adheres, a vibration patternobtained by combining them and the like are set based on thedetermination result. The gas is injected to the foreign material andthe vibration is applied to the surface to which the foreign materialadheres and the foreign material removal operation is performed based onsuch settings based on the determination result. It is possible toeasily determine and remove the adhered foreign material by giving awater-repellent property to the surface to which the foreign materialadheres in the imaging optical system.

A second aspect of this technology is

a cleaning method including

a step of determining an adhesion condition of a foreign materialadhering to a lens of an imaging apparatus,

a step of setting a foreign material removal operation based on adetermination result of the adhesion condition, and

a step of performing the foreign material removal operation based on thesetting.

A third aspect of this technology is

an imaging apparatus including

an imaging optical system,

an imaging unit configured to generate an image signal of an imagedimage according to an optical image formed by the imaging opticalsystem,

a determining unit configured to determine an adhesion condition of aforeign material adhering to the imaging optical system based on theimage signal of the imaged image generated by the imaging unit,

a setting unit configured to set a foreign material removal operationbased on a determination result of the determining unit, and

a foreign material removal processing unit configured to perform theforeign material removal operation based on the setting by the settingunit.

Effects of the Invention

According to this technology, the adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial adhering to the imaging optical system is determined, theforeign material removal operation is set based on the determinationresult, and the foreign material removal operation is performed based onthe setting. Therefore, it becomes possible to optimally remove theforeign material adhering to the imaging optical system. Meanwhile, aneffect described in this specification is illustrative only and theeffect is not limited to this, and there may be an additional effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a configuration of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a cleaning operation of the firstembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an air injection operation according to anadhesion condition of a foreign material.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a configuration of a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a cleaning operation of the secondembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a vibration operation according to anadhesion condition of a foreign material.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Modes for carrying out the present technology are hereinafter described.Note that the description is given in the following order.

1. First Embodiment

1-1. Configuration of First Embodiment

1-2. Cleaning Operation of First Embodiment

2. Second Embodiment

2-2. Cleaning Operation of Second Embodiment

1. First Embodiment

A case in which gas such as air is injected to remove a foreign materialis described in a first embodiment.

[1-1. Configuration of First Embodiment]

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of the first embodiment of thepresent technology. An imaging apparatus 10 includes an imaging opticalsystem 21, an imaging unit 22, an image processing unit 23, a displayunit 24, a determining unit 31, a setting unit 32, and a foreignmaterial removal processing unit 33.

The imaging optical system 21 formed of an imaging lens and the likeforms an optical image of a subject on an imaging surface of the imagingunit 22.

The imaging unit 22 is formed of an imaging device such as a CCD (chargecoupled device) image sensor and a CMOS (complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor) image sensor. The imaging device performs photoelectricconversion processing to convert the optical image formed on the imagingsurface by the imaging optical system 21 to an electric signal. Theimaging unit 22 performs noise removal processing such as CDS(correlated double sampling), gain adjustment to set a level of theelectric signal to a desired signal level, A/D conversion processing andthe like on the electric signal generated by the imaging device. Theimaging unit 22 outputs a digital image signal of an imaged image to theimage processing unit 23.

The image processing unit 23 performs camera signal processing and thelike on the digital image signal output from the imaging unit 22. Theimage processing unit 23 performs non-linear processing such as gammacorrection and knee correction, color correction processing, a contouremphasis processing and the like on the image signal, for example. Theimage processing unit 23 outputs the processed image signal to thedisplay unit 24 and the determining unit 31.

The display unit 24 displays the imaged image based on the image signaloutput from the image processing unit 23.

The determining unit 31 determines an adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial adhering to a front surface of the imaging optical system 21.The determining unit 31 extracts a contour of an imaged object based onthe image signal of the imaged image to determine whether the extractedcontour corresponds to a contour of the foreign material. For example,the determining unit 31 stores a size of a contour of a droplet supposedto adhere to the imaging optical system 21 in advance and compares asize of the extracted contour with the stored size of the contour todetermine that the contour smaller than the stored contour is that ofthe droplet. The determining unit 31 may determine the foreign materialbased on not only the size of the contour of the object but also a shapeof the contour, luminance and a color, blurring and distortion of theimage and the like. The determining unit 31 outputs informationindicating an image region size of the determined foreign material tothe setting unit 32 as a determination result. It is possible tocalculate the region size by counting the number of pixels in a regiondetermined to be the droplet or by approximating the region by a circleto use an area calculated from a diameter (radius or diameter) of thecircle, for example. Meanwhile, it is possible to make the region of thedroplet more similar to the circle by giving a water-repellent propertyto the surface to which the foreign material adheres, thereby accuratelyand easily calculating the region size and determining the foreignmaterial. It becomes easy to remove the droplet by giving thewater-repellent property to the surface to which the foreign materialadheres. Furthermore, when a plurality of image regions of the foreignmaterials is determined, the determining unit 31 may add up thedetermined regions to obtain the image region size of the foreignmaterial.

The setting unit 32 sets a foreign material removal operation based onthe determination result of the determining unit 31. When the foreignmaterial removal processing unit 33 injects the air to perform theforeign material removal operation, the setting unit 32 sets a pressureand/or injection time and the like of the air to be injected and outputssetting information to the foreign material removal processing unit 33.

The foreign material removal processing unit 33 includes an airinjection adjusting unit 331 and an air injecting unit 332. The airinjection adjusting unit 331 allows the air injecting unit 332 to injectthe air at the pressure and/or the injection time and the like indicatedby the setting information supplied from the setting unit 32 to removethe foreign material adhering to the front surface of the imagingoptical system 21.

[1-2. Cleaning Operation of First Embodiment]

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a cleaning operation of the firstembodiment. At step ST1, the determining unit 31 determines the imageregion of the foreign material in the imaged image. The determining unit31 determines the image region of the foreign material by using theimage signal supplied from the image processing unit 23. The determiningunit 31 extracts the contour and determines the droplet and the likebased on the size of the extracted contour, for example. Meanwhile, thedetermining unit 31 may also determine the foreign material based on theshape of the contour, the luminance and the color, the blurring and thedistortion of the image and the like. The determining unit 31 determinesthe image region of the foreign material and shifts to step ST2.

At step ST2, the determining unit 31 determines whether the image regionof the foreign material is included in the imaged image. The determiningunit 31 shifts to step ST3 when the image region of the foreign materialis included and returns to step ST1 when the image region of the foreignmaterial is not included.

At step ST3, the determining unit 31 calculates the image region size ofthe foreign material. The determining unit 31 calculates the imageregion size of the foreign material such as the number of pixels in theimage region of the foreign material and shifts to step ST4.

At step ST4, the setting unit 32 configures an air injection setting.The setting unit 32 sets the pressure and/or the injection time of theair to be injected based on the region size calculated at step ST3. Forexample, the pressure is increased or the injection time is lengthenedas the region size becomes larger such that the foreign material may bemore surely removed. The setting unit 32 configures the air injectionsetting in this manner and shifts to step ST5.

At step ST5, the foreign material removal processing unit 33 performsremoval processing of the foreign material. The foreign material removalprocessing unit 33 injects the air to the foreign material based on theair injection setting at step ST4 to remove the adhering foreignmaterial and shifts to step ST6.

At step ST6, the imaging apparatus 11 determines whether the operationis finished. When the imaging apparatus 11 is mounted on a vehicle suchas an automobile, for example, the imaging apparatus 11 determines thatthe operation is finished when driving is finished to finish thecleaning operation. During the driving, the imaging apparatus 11determines that the operation is not finished and returns to step ST1.

In this manner, it is possible to efficiently remove the foreignmaterial without wasting by adjusting the pressure and/or the injectiontime of the air to be injected according to the adhesion condition ofthe foreign material.

FIG. 3 illustrates an air injection operation according to the adhesioncondition of the foreign material. When the pressure of the air to beinjected is adjusted according to the adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial, the setting unit 32 increases the pressure as the image regionsize of the foreign material becomes larger. For example, the settingunit 32 changes the pressure linearly with respect to the image regionsize (area of the image region) of the foreign material. Therefore, thepressure of the air is set low as illustrated in FIG. 3A when the imageregion size of the foreign material is small and the pressure of the airis set higher as illustrated in FIG. 3B as the image region size of theforeign material becomes larger.

When the injection time of the air to be injected is adjusted accordingto the adhesion condition of the foreign material, the setting unit 32lengthens the injection time as the image region size of the foreignmaterial becomes larger. Therefore, the air injection time is set shortas illustrated in FIG. 3C when the image region size of the foreignmaterial is small and the air injection time is set longer asillustrated in FIG. 3D as the image region size of the foreign materialbecomes larger.

Furthermore, it is also possible to switch an injection pattern obtainedby combining the pressure and the injection time of the air according tothe adhesion condition of the foreign material. For example, when theimage region size of the foreign material is small, the injectionpattern illustrated in FIG. 3E is used, and when the image region sizeof the foreign material is large, the injection pattern illustrated inFIG. 3F is used. If the pressure is set high at an initial stage of theinjection to decrease thereafter, the foreign material is moreeffectively removed. In this manner, by switching the injection patternaccording to the adhesion condition of the foreign material, it ispossible to further efficiently remove the foreign material withoutwasting. Meanwhile, the injection patterns in FIGS. 3E and 3F areillustrative only and the injection pattern is not limited to thoseillustrated in the drawings.

In a configuration in which an injection direction of the air may becontrolled, it is possible to set the injection direction of the air andthe pressure and the injection time for each injection directionaccording to the adhesion condition of the foreign material. Forexample, when a nozzle which may change the injection direction of theair is used, or when a plurality of nozzles with different injectiondirections of the air is provided, for example, it is possible to setthe injection pattern including the injection direction of the air toswitch the injection pattern according to the adhesion condition of theforeign material.

In this case, it is possible to divide the image region of the foreignmaterial into a plurality of regions and set the injection pattern foreach region or to set the injection pattern for each of the determinedforeign materials. It is possible to inject the air from the nozzle theclosest to the adhering foreign material to remove the same, forexample, by setting in this manner. It is also possible to remove theforeign material which cannot be removed by the air from the nozzle theclosest to the foreign material by the air injected from anotherdirection by injecting the air from another nozzle thereafter.

2. Second Embodiment

A case in which vibration is applied to a surface to which a foreignmaterial adheres to remove the foreign material is described in a secondembodiment.

[2-1. Configuration of Second Embodiment]

FIG. 4 illustrates a configuration of the second embodiment of thepresent technology. An imaging apparatus 10 includes an imaging opticalsystem 21, an imaging unit 22, an image processing unit 23, a displayunit 24, a determining unit 31, a setting unit 35, and a foreignmaterial removal processing unit 36.

The imaging optical system 21 formed of an imaging lens and the likeforms an optical image of a subject on an imaging surface of the imagingunit 22.

The imaging unit 22 is formed of an imaging device such as a CCD (chargecoupled device) image sensor and a CMOS (complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor) image sensor. The imaging device performs photoelectricconversion processing to convert the optical image formed on the imagingsurface by the imaging optical system 21 to an electric signal. Theimaging unit 22 performs noise removal processing such as CDS(correlated double sampling), gain adjustment to set a level of theelectric signal to a desired signal level, A/D conversion processing andthe like on the electric signal generated by the imaging device. Theimaging unit 22 outputs a digital image signal of an imaged image to theimage processing unit 23.

The image processing unit 23 performs camera signal processing and thelike on the digital image signal output from the imaging unit 22. Theimage processing unit 23 performs non-linear processing such as gammacorrection and knee correction, color correction processing, contouremphasis processing and the like on the image signal, for example. Theimage processing unit 23 outputs the processed image signal to thedisplay unit 24 and the determining unit 31.

The display unit 24 displays the imaged image based on the image signaloutput from the image processing unit 23.

The determining unit 31 determines an adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial adhering to a front surface of the imaging optical system 21.The determining unit 31 extracts a contour of an imaged object based onthe image signal of the imaged image to determine whether the extractedcontour corresponds to a contour of the foreign material. For example,the determining unit 31 stores a size of a contour of a droplet supposedto adhere to the imaging optical system 21 in advance and compares asize of the extracted contour with the stored size of the contour todetermine that the contour smaller than the stored contour is that ofthe droplet. The determining unit 31 may determine the foreign materialbased on not only the size of the contour of the object but also a shapeof the contour, luminance and a color, blurring and distortion of theimage and the like. The determining unit 31 outputs informationindicating an image region size of the determined foreign material tothe setting unit 32 as a determination result. A method of calculatingthe region size is similar to that of the first embodiment. It becomeseasy to determine and remove the adhering foreign material as describedabove by giving a water-repellent property to the surface to which theforeign material adheres. When a plurality of image regions of theforeign materials is determined, the determining unit 31 may add up thedetermined regions to obtain the image region size of the foreignmaterial.

The setting unit 35 sets a foreign material removal operation based onthe determination result of the determining unit 31. When the foreignmaterial removal processing unit 36 applies the vibration to the surfaceto which the foreign material adheres to perform the foreign materialremoval operation, the setting unit 35 sets a frequency, amplitude,vibration time and the like of the vibration, for example, and outputssetting information to the foreign material removal processing unit 36.

The foreign material removal processing unit 36 includes a vibrationadjusting unit 361 and a vibrating unit 362. The vibration adjustingunit 361 allows the vibrating unit 362 to vibrate the surface to whichthe foreign material adheres at the frequency, the amplitude, thevibration time and the like indicated by the setting informationsupplied from the setting unit 32 to remove the foreign materialadhering to the front surface of the imaging optical system 21.Meanwhile, the vibrating unit 362 is formed of a piezoelectric deviceand the like and mounted so as to be vibrate the front surface to whichthe foreign material adheres in the imaging optical system 21. Forexample, in the imaging optical system 21, if a lens cover and a lensprotector are provided on the front surface of the imaging lens and whenthe foreign material adheres to the lens cover and the lens protector,the vibrating unit 362 is provided thereon.

[2-2. Cleaning Operation of Second Embodiment]

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a cleaning operation of the secondembodiment. At step ST11, the determining unit 31 determines the imageregion of the foreign material in the imaged image. The determining unit31 determines the image region of the foreign material by using theimage signal supplied from the image processing unit 23. The determiningunit 31 extracts the contour and determines the droplet and the likebased on the size of the extracted contour, for example. Meanwhile, thedetermining unit 31 may determine the foreign material based on theshape of the contour, the luminance and the color, the blurring and thedistortion of the image and the like. The determining unit 31 determinesthe image region of the foreign material and shifts to step ST12.

At step ST12, the determining unit 31 determines whether the imageregion of the foreign material is included in the imaged image. Thedetermining unit 31 shifts to step ST13 when the image region of theforeign material is included and returns to step ST11 when the imageregion of the foreign material is not included.

At step ST13, the determining unit 31 calculates the image region sizeof the foreign material. The determining unit 31 calculates the imageregion size of the foreign material such as the number of pixels in theimage region of the foreign material and shifts to step ST14.

At step ST14, the setting unit 35 configures a vibration setting. Thesetting unit 35 sets the frequency, the amplitude, the vibration timeand the like of the vibration applied to the surface to which theforeign material adheres based on the region size calculated at stepST13. For example, the amplitude is increased and the vibration time islengthened as the region size becomes larger such that the foreignmaterial may be more surely removed. The setting unit 35 configures thevibration setting in this manner and shifts to step ST15.

At step ST15, the foreign material removal processing unit 36 performsremoval processing of the foreign material. The foreign material removalprocessing unit 36 vibrates the surface to which the foreign materialadheres to remove the adhering foreign material based on the vibrationsetting at step ST14 and shifts to step ST16.

At step ST16, the imaging apparatus 11 determines whether the operationis finished. When the imaging apparatus 11 is mounted on a vehicle suchas an automobile, for example, the imaging apparatus 11 determines thatthe operation is finished when driving is finished to finish thecleaning operation. During the driving, the imaging apparatus 11determines that the operation is not finished to return to step ST11.

In this manner, it is possible to efficiently remove the foreignmaterial without wasting by adjusting the frequency, the amplitude, andthe vibration time of the vibration applied to the surface to which theforeign material adheres according to the adhesion condition of theforeign material.

FIG. 6 illustrates a vibration operation according to the adhesioncondition of the foreign material. Meanwhile, when the vibrationoperation according to the adhesion condition of the foreign material isperformed, it is difficult to apply the different vibrations torespective parts of the surface to which the foreign material adheres.Therefore, the vibration is set by using a sum of the image region sizesof the foreign materials calculated by the determining unit 31.

When the amplitude is adjusted according to the adhesion condition ofthe foreign material, the setting unit 35 increases the amplitude as theimage region size of the foreign material becomes larger. Therefore, theamplitude is set small as illustrated in FIG. 6A when the image regionsize of the foreign material is small and the amplitude is set larger asillustrated in FIG. 6B as the image region size of the foreign materialbecomes larger.

When the vibration time is adjusted according to the adhesion conditionof the foreign material, the setting unit 32 lengthens the vibrationtime as the image region size of the foreign material becomes larger.Therefore, the vibration time is set short as illustrated in FIG. 6Cwhen the image region size of the foreign material is small and thevibration time is set longer as illustrated in FIG. 6D as the imageregion size of the foreign material becomes larger.

Furthermore, it is also possible to adjust the frequency and a waveformof the vibration according to the adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial and to switch a vibration pattern obtained by combining theamplitude, the frequency, the waveform, and the vibration time accordingto the adhesion condition of the foreign material. For example, when theimage region size of the foreign material is small, the vibrationpattern illustrated in FIG. 6E is used, and when the image region sizeof the foreign material is large, the vibration pattern illustrated inFIG. 6F is used. If the amplitude is set large at an initial stage ofthe vibration to decrease thereafter, the foreign material is moreeffectively removed. In this manner, it is possible to furtherefficiently remove the foreign material without wasting by switching thevibration pattern according to the adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial. Meanwhile, the vibration patterns in FIGS. 6E and 6F areillustrative only and the vibration pattern is not limited to thoseillustrated in the drawings.

The present technology should not be interpreted so as to be limited tothe above-described embodiments of the technology. The embodiments ofthe technology disclose the present technology as illustration and it isobvious that one skilled in the art may modify or replace theembodiments without departing from the scope of the present technology.That is to say, in order to determine the scope of the presenttechnology, claims should be taken into consideration.

The cleaning apparatus of the present technology may also have thefollowing configuration.

(1) A cleaning apparatus including:

a determining unit configured to determine an adhesion condition of aforeign material adhering to an imaging optical system;

a setting unit configured to set a foreign material removal operationbased on a determination result of the determining unit; and

a foreign material removal processing unit configured to perform theforeign material removal operation based on the setting by the settingunit.

(2) The cleaning apparatus according to (1), wherein the determiningunit determines an image region of the foreign material in an imagedimage generated by the imaging apparatus as the adhesion condition.

(3) The cleaning apparatus according to (1) or (2), wherein the foreignmaterial removal processing unit performs the foreign material removaloperation by injecting gas.

(4) The cleaning apparatus according to (3), wherein the setting unitsets a pressure or injection time of the gas according to the adhesioncondition of the foreign material determined by the determining unit.

(5) The cleaning apparatus according to (4), wherein the setting unitswitches an injection pattern of the gas according to the adhesioncondition of the foreign material determined by the determining unit.

(6) The cleaning apparatus according to any one of (3) to (5), whereinthe foreign material removal processing unit injects the gas fromdifferent directions to the imaging optical system, and the setting unitsets an injection direction of the gas to the foreign material accordingto the adhesion condition of the foreign material determined by thedetermining unit.

(7) The cleaning apparatus according to any one of (1) to (6), whereinthe foreign material removal processing unit performs the foreignmaterial removal operation by applying vibration to a surface to whichthe foreign material adheres.

(8) The cleaning apparatus according to (7), wherein the setting unitsets a frequency, amplitude, a waveform, or vibration time of thevibration according to the adhesion condition of the foreign materialdetermined by the determining unit.

(9) The cleaning apparatus according to (8), wherein the setting unitswitches a vibration pattern of the vibration according to the adhesioncondition of the foreign material determined by the determining unit.

(10) The cleaning apparatus according to any one of (1) to (9), whereinthe surface to which the foreign material adheres in the imaging opticalsystem has a water-repellent property.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In a cleaning apparatus, a cleaning method, and an imaging apparatus ofthis technology, an adhesion condition of a foreign material adhering toan imaging optical system is determined. A foreign material removaloperation is set based on a determination result and the foreignmaterial removal operation is performed based on the setting. Therefore,it becomes possible to optimally remove the foreign material adhering tothe imaging optical system. Therefore, the cleaning apparatus, thecleaning method, and the imaging apparatus of this technology aresuitable for the imaging apparatus in which the foreign material such asa droplet adheres to the imaging optical system, for example, anin-vehicle camera, a monitoring camera and the like.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10, 11 imaging apparatus-   21 imaging optical system-   22 imaging unit-   23 image processing unit-   24 display unit-   31 determining unit-   32, 35 setting unit-   33, 36 foreign material removal processing unit-   331 air injection adjusting unit-   332 air injecting unit-   361 vibration adjusting unit-   362 vibrating unit

The invention claimed is:
 1. A cleaning apparatus comprising: aninjector configured to perform a foreign material removal operation toremove foreign material adhering to a surface by injecting gas; andprocessing circuitry configured to: acquire a digital image signalrepresenting an image formed to remove foreign material adhering to asurface by an imaging unit; perform contour emphasis processing on thedigital image signal; extract a contour of an imaged object based uponthe image signal; determine that the imaged object corresponds to aforeign material adhering to the surface of an imaging lens of theimaging unit based on a shape or size of the extracted contour;determine an adhesion condition of the foreign material adhering to theimaging lens based upon the determination; and set a foreign materialremoval operation based on a determination result of the processingcircuitry; wherein the injector is configured to perform the foreignmaterial removal operation based on the setting by the processingcircuitry; wherein the processing circuitry modifies a non-zero gasinjection pressure of the injector according to the determined adhesioncondition by switching from a first gas injection pattern to a secondgas injection pattern according to the determined adhesion condition ofthe foreign material; wherein the first and the second gas injectionpattern each comprises a plurality of pulses, with a first pulse of theplurality of pulses having a greater pressure than at least onesubsequent pulse; and wherein the surface of the imaging lens has awater-repellent property.
 2. The cleaning apparatus according to claim1, wherein the processing circuitry determines an image region of theforeign material in the image generated by using the imaging unit. 3.The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry further sets an injection time of the gas according to theadhesion condition of the foreign material determined by the processingcircuitry.
 4. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thefirst pulse of the first gas injection pattern has a pressure that isdifferent than the first pulse of the second gas injection pattern. 5.The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the injectorinjects the gas from different directions to the imaging lens, and theprocessing circuitry sets an injection direction of the gas to theforeign material according to the adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial determined by the processing circuitry.
 6. A cleaning methodcomprising: a step acquiring a digital image signal representing animage formed by an imaging unit; a step of performing contour emphasisprocessing on the digital image signal; a step of extracting a contourof an imaged objet based upon the image signal; a step of determiningthat the imaged object corresponds to a foreign material adhering to asurface of an imaging lens of the imaging unit based on a shape or sizeof the extracted contour, a step of determining an adhesion condition ofthe foreign material adhering to the surface of the imaging lens basedupon the determination, a step of setting a foreign material removaloperation based on a determination result of the adhesion condition,wherein the setting comprises modifying a non-zero gas injectionpressure according to the determined result of the adhesion condition byswitching from a first gas injection pattern to a second gas injectionpattern according to the determined adhesion condition of the foreignmaterial, wherein the first and the second gas injection pattern eachcomprises a plurality of pulses, with a first pulse of the plurality ofpulses having a greater pressure than at least one subsequent pulse, anda step of performing the foreign material removal operation based on thesetting, wherein the surface of the imaging lens has a water-repellentproperty.
 7. An imaging apparatus comprising: an imaging optical systemincluding an imaging lens, an imaging unit configured to generate animage signal of an imaged image according to an optical image formed bythe imaging optical system, an injector configured to perform a foreignmaterial removal operation by injecting gas, and processing circuitryconfigured to: acquire the image signal; perform contour emphasisprocessing on the image signal; extract a contour of an imaged objectbased upon the image signal; determine that the imaged objectcorresponds to a foreign material adhering to a surface of the imaginglens in the image signal based on a shape or size of the extractedcontour; determine an adhesion condition of the foreign materialadhering to the imaging lens of the imaging optical system based on thedetermination, and set a foreign material removal operation based on adetermination result of the processing circuitry; wherein the injectoris configured to perform the foreign material removal operation based onthe setting by the processing circuitry; wherein the processingcircuitry modifies a non-zero gas injection pressure of the injectoraccording to the determined adhesion condition by switching from a firstgas injection pattern to a second gas injection pattern according to thedetermined adhesion condition of the foreign material; wherein the firstand the second gas injection pattern each comprises a plurality ofpulses, with a first pulse of the plurality of pulses having a greaterpressure than at least one subsequent pulse, and wherein the surface ofthe imaging lens has a water-repellent property.
 8. The cleaningapparatus according to claim 1, wherein determining the adhesioncondition of the foreign material adhering to the imaging lens comprisescomparing the extracted contour to a reference contour.
 9. The cleaningmethod according to claim 6, wherein the step of determining theadhesion condition of the foreign material adhering to the imaging lenscomprises comparing the extracted contour to a reference contour. 10.The imaging apparatus according to claim 7, wherein determining theadhesion condition of the foreign material adhering to the imaging lenscomprises comparing the extracted contour in the imaging signal of theimaged image generated by the imaging unit with a reference contour.